If fitness permits, I hope to play LA 2028 Olympics: Manpreet Singh

NEW DELHI: He will be on the wrong side of 30s and maintaining fitness would be no stroll in the park but veteran Indian hockey mid-fielder Manpreet Singh foresees an unprecedented fifth Olympic appearance for himself in the 2028 Los Angeles Games before he calls time on his career.

The 32-year-old is a two-time Olympic medallist. He captained the side that ended a 41-year-old Olympic medal drought in Tokyo 2020, before remaining a part of the squad under Harmanpreet Singh for an encore in Paris 2024.

“My target is till Los Angeles but it all depends upon my fitness. If I can maintain my fitness and game, I will surely be there in LA,” the ace mid-fielder said.

“In today’s hockey, fitness is very important so at the end everything will boil down to my fitness,” added the player, who has rarely faced any fitness issues in his career.

Former greats Udham Singh, Leslie Claudius, and Dhanraj Pillai along with Manpreet’s recently-retired contemporary PR Sreejesh also have four Olympic appearances to their credit.

And Manpreet, a veteran of 378 international games and 44 goals, is now aiming to go one better on them by making the cut for LA 2028. The easy-going player, who hails from Mithapur village in Punjab, is grateful for all that he has achieved with the team.

“Winning back-to-back medals is a something wonderful for me. It was after a long time that we won back-to-back medals and every athlete aspires to win an Olympic medal.

“I have played four Olympics. In the first two, I didn’t get any medal but in the last two, I won medals and you can’t imagine my happiness,” he said.

A multi-faceted player, Manpreet can play in a defensive position as well when the team needs.

His skills came in handy in India’s 4-2 penalty shootout win over Britain in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics despite being down to 10 men with 42 minutes remaining in the match.

“I am always prepared to play in every scenario. I always adjust to every position which the team demands. When (Amit) Rohidas got the red card, I immediately realised that I had to play in the defence.

“I have trained a lot for that, even in Pro League matches. So, it was not very difficult for me. I knew my roles and responsibilities, I just had to execute my plans,” Manpreet said.

The show against Britain tested the Indian team’s mental toughness and Manpreet credited a short three-day camp at renowned adventurer Mike Horn’s base in Switzerland before the Olympics for that.

“That camp was very useful for us. It changed our mindset and taught us to be strong. When we went there, nobody knew what we were supposed to do there,” he recalled.

“That camp taught us how to tackle adverse situations with a strong mentality. That camp also taught us how to be together and help each other in difficult situations. We learnt to play as a team and be united,” he said.